http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/262348-trump-calls-for-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-usDecember 07, 2015, 04:30 pm
Trump calls for 'shutdown' of Muslims entering US
By Ben Kamisar
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump wants to bar all Muslims from entering the United States.
In a statement from his campaign, Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States until elected leaders can "figure out what is going on."
When asked by The Hill whether that would include Muslim-American citizens currently abroad, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks replied over email: "Mr. Trump says, 'everyone.'"
Trump is quoted in the statement as saying that a significant number of Muslims harbor a "hatred" toward America and as a result should be kept out of the country.
He backed that up with a poll by the Center for Security Policy, a think-tank that has criticized the role of Muslims in America.
That poll showed that one-quarter of Muslims living in America polled "agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as part of the global jihad" and that a majority think that Muslims in America should be allowed to answer to Shariah law.
"Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine," Trump said.
"Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."
Trump's comments come less than a week after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., killed 14 people. The alleged shooters were both Muslim, and the federal government is investigating whether the attack was tied to terrorism.
The move also follows President Obama's Sunday night speech, where he preached the importance of tolerance in light of the California shooting.
"It's our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL," Obama said.
"Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes. And, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that."
Some of Trump's GOP rivals have called to restrict refugees from majority Muslim countries in light of concerns of terror attacks, but none have gone as far as Trump.
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) proposed a bill to bar refugees from countries with "territory substantially controlled by a foreign terrorist organization," with an exception carved out for those facing genocide. While he doesn't specifically exempt Christian refugees from those countries, he's said repeatedly that Christian refugees don't pose a threat and should be welcomed into America.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) proposed a similar bill to bar refugees from countries with "significant jihadist movements."
The Democratic National Committee instantly pounced on the call, harkening back to when Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus called Trump a "net positive" to the party.
"Donald Trump is indeed a ‘net positive’ for the Republican Party — as their Chairman called him — because he shows America what the Republican Party really stands for with his rhetoric that only helps enemies like ISIL/Daesh to recruit extremists," Christina Freundlich, a DNC spokeswoman, said in a statement using two alternative names for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
